Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Whoa, I made these a few weeks ago for a party and they are the most decadent, soft, chewy cookies I think I've ever made. I found the recipe in a Martha Stewart magazine, and just substituted as necessary to make it vegan. The addition of a nice ripe banana makes all the difference in the world. I don't bake cookies that often, but I plan to make these for every holiday party I'm attending this year.

Instructions:Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix the flours, salt, and baking soda in a bowl and set aside. With an electric mixer, beat the margarine and sugars together until they're fluffy, then add the egg replacer and vanilla and keep beating. Then add in the banana and mix everything together well. It might take a little while to get the banana to fully blend with everything. Add in the flour mixture and mix until combined. Fold in the rest of the ingredients.

Once the cookie dough is all mixed up, drop 1.5" spoonfuls of the dough onto a cookie sheet (I lined mine with tinfoil because I like to avoid doing dishes when possible; you could also use parchment paper). Space them about 2 inches apart so you don't end up with one big cookie. Bake for about 12-13 minutes, until golden brown, and rotate halfway through. They will be a bit soft when you take them out, so let them cool a bit on the cookie sheets before scooping them off onto wire racks to cool completely. Store in airtight containers for up to 2 days, or freeze them if you can't eat all 3 dozen in a day or so (they keep well in the freezer...even though I made these for a party, I made sure to save myself a few [ok more than a few] and kept them in the freezer to enjoy through the week. they are good frozen or thawed out). These are sooo good.

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Today was cooold out, and the wintery temperatures got me in the mood for a nice pot pie. Any excuse to turn the oven on and get some more heat up in this apartment! Anyway, I just sort of made this up with the ingredients I had on hand, but it came out well and didn't take very long. Its not a traditional pastry pot pie, but man is it delightful!

Ingredients:3/4 cup soy milk1 tablespoon corn starch1-2 tablespoons soy sauce1/2 cup nutritional yeast2 tablespoons soy sour cream 1/2 block tofu, cut into small (1/2") cubes1 cup carrots, cut into relatively thin medallions1 cup broccoli, in bite sized pieces (frozen is fine)Any other vegetables your heart desires (peas, corn, and potatoes would have been lovely if I had had them on hand; as long as the total quantity of vegetables isn't more than 2-3 cups. don't want to overflow the casserole dish.)2 cups bisquick1/2 cup soy milkegg replacer for 2 eggs.

Instructions:

Combine 3/4 cup soy milk with the corn starch, soy sauce, nutritional yeast and sour cream in a casserole dish. Whisk until well combined. Add in tofu and vegetables, and mix. In a separate bowl, mix the bisquick, 1/2 cup soymilk, and egg replacer until it forms a dough. Cover the vegetable/tofu mix evenly with the dough. Bake at 400 degrees F for 25-30 minutes, uncovered, until the top of the dough is a light golden brown. Enjoy hot!

Sunday, October 12, 2008

So I've been on the hunt for a nice, healthy autumn-y soup...something rich and creamy and perhaps with some pumpkin. I was poking around on recipezaar.com and found this awesome recipe for Jamaican Lentil Stew, which has creamy coconut milk, pumpkin, and lentils. I just finished making a batch of it up and I'm totally blown away--the broth is silky and thick and the ingredients meld wonderfully. I made a few substitutions just based on what I had around, which I put in parentheses.

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, minced

2 garlic cloves, pressed

1 inch piece gingerroot, grated

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 teaspoons ground coriander (I didn't have coriander [I know I should!] so I used tangine spices, which included cinnamon, cumin and some other spices I'm forgetting)

1-2 teaspoon ground cumin (adjust according to taste)

1 (13 ounce) can coconut milk (I used lite coconut milk because I am trying to watch my figure, which is to say, I didn't want to feel like I couldn't eat cookies because the coconut milk in my soup was fattening)

4 cups vegetable stock

4 ounces split red lentils, washed and drained (I actually used 8 ounces, or a full cup, because this didnt seem like nearly enough lentils. I also had to use green lentils because thats all the Kroger has)

1 small sweet potato, cut into 1/2 inch chunks

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree

1/2-1 teaspoon Thai red curry paste (optional)

black pepper, to taste

Instructions:

Make a thick paste by mashing the ginger and garlic together with a pestle and mortar or a small bowl and the heel of a wooden spoon (I actually just used the garlic press to press the garlic and the ginger since I have neither mortar nor pestle to my name and it worked fine). Saute the onions in the vegetable oil until theyre transparent, then add the garlic ginger paste and saute for another 2 minutes or so; lower heat and stir constantly to avoid burning the paste.

Add the spices and saute for a minute more. Stir in the coconut milk, stock, lentils, sweet potato and pumpkin puree. Simmer over medium-low heat for 40-50 minutes or until sweet potato is soft and almost melting into the stew, stirring occasionally. Before serving, stir in the red curry paste if you are using it or adjust seasoning with black pepper. I'm totally sold on this soup, and I'm looking forward to eating it this week for my lunches.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Now that I've settled in a little bit in my new home down south, I've had to start cooking more for myself. When I lived in NY, I cooked often enough--I made dinner at least 4-5 nights a week, but since I was tired from commuting and work, it was more likely than not to be a lazy girl dinner--taco night or veggie burgers with a plethora of vegetables as a side so that I could feel like I was being somewhat healthy. Since that would get boring 7 nights a week, which is how often I'll be cooking now that I'm a phd student, I am now cooking from my cookbooks more often. This recipe for chickpea cutlets from the newly published Veganomiconis spectacular. It was easy, came out well and tasted pretty awesome. Delightful! And now I'll have dinner for tonight, tomorrow and monday even :0) so I can still kind of have lazy girl dinner until Taco Tuesday comes.

Instructions:Mash the chickpeas and olive oil until there are no whole chickpeas left. Add remaining ingredients and knead for about 3 minutes until gluten is stringy. Heat frying oil in a heavy skillet over medium heat. Divide the chickpea dough into 4 even sections. Knead each section in your hand then shape into a patty or cutlet, about 4" x 6" or so. Fry for about 6-7 minutes per side until golden brown, then drain/pat excess oil off. They say you can also bake these at 375 degrees F for 20 minutes which might be a bit healthier...I think when I reheat these tomorrow night I'll probably do it by baking them so they come out just as crispy as they were when I fried them. So good! I love this cookbook!

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

I am in the process of moving, and the craziness of the past few months (getting into grad school, finding a new apartment, quitting a job I loved, and starting to pack) has kept me from doing much cooking or experimenting with new recipes. Once I am moved into my new apartment at the end of the month I'm going to start posting more regularly.

In the meantime, I highly recommend the cookbook Veganomicon. My office purchased a copy for me as a going away gift and it is amazing. I made apple spice cupcakes with caramel penuche frosting this morning and my sister made me the incredible chocolate mousse pie with a peanut butter/caramel topping sprinkled with candied pecans. True to form, I went straight for the dessert recipes, but the entrees and sides look great as well. It should definitely inspire me once I have time for cooking and baking again!

Sunday, May 11, 2008

My market had a sale on strawberries today and I just could not resist--they looked so perfect and sweet and summery! I briefly considered making a strawberry rhubarb pie, but then remembered I had some of that soyatoo soy whip and decided on strawberry shortcake instead. This is one the easiest desserts ever given the Bisquick and pretty much embodies summer BBQs and outdoor eating for me.

Instructions:Mix the sliced strawberries with about 1/4 cup of sugar. You can use more or less sugar depending on your personal preference; I don't like my strawberries too sweet so I actually used a little less. Set these aside so they get nice and juicy. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Mix the Bisquick, soymilk, sugar and margarine into a dough. Divide the dough into six parts and then drop onto a cookie sheet or into a baking pan. Bake until golden brown on top (about 10 minutes or so). Allow to cool slightly, then split each shortcake and fill and top each generously with strawberries. Squirt on some of that delightful soy whip and serve! Seriously, so good.

Yesterday I realized I had a package of tempeh sitting in my fridge, so I decided to make some fried tempeh cutlets. I wasn't in the mood for my regular flour/spices coating, and I didn't have any panko or breadcrumbs, so I used cornmeal instead. I make these cutlets when I'm feeling kind of lazy and uninspired because they're quick, easy, and remind me a bit of some of the meals my mother used to make us when we were little. This was a nice, protein-packed main course for dinner (I ate two pieces with a side of wilted greens and some fruit)--with leftovers for me for tonight. These cutlets would also be good on a sandwich/grinder with some vegannaise, lettuce and tomato.

Cut the tempeh in half to form two squares. Cut each of these squares in half lengthwise so that they are still squares, but now half as thick. Mix together the marinade in one bowl and set aside. In another bowl mix the cornmeal with your choice of spices. If you have time you can marinate the tempeh for up to a half an hour in your desired marinade. If you are pressed for time just dip each piece of tempeh in the marinade to coat on all sides. Heat the canola oil in a frying pan (you'll know it is ready for frying if a small glob of cornmeal starts to sizzle when you drop it in). Dredge the marinated or dipped tempeh in the cornmeal mixture. Once all four pieces are coated in the cornmeal mixture on all sides, place in the frying pan and fry until golden brown (1-2 minutes). Flip and fry the other side. Remove the tempeh cutlets from the oil and drain/blot with a paper towel to remove excess oil. Serve immediately with your favorite condiment or a bit of the leftover marinade.

Sunday, May 4, 2008

Whoo, it has been a long while since I've posted. Work has been insane lately, and between that and figuring out my move to Virginia in a few months, I've not been cooking or baking as much as I usually do. Well, that and now that I'm leaving New York I feel a tremendous urge to visit my favorite restaurants, despite my usually frugal self. (p.s. Buddha Bodai on Mott Street is a new favorite!) However, today being Sunday, I had plenty of time to make up a nice homemade dinner. I've decided that Shirataki noodles are basically the most amazing thing ever--they're noodles and hence they taste really good, yet they're not made with the usual noodle materials and therefore are super low in calories. Like a serving has 20 calories low. Insanity. So anyway, I made this up, proportions of ingredients can be shifted as desired, since when I cook I just sort of guesstimate and dump stuff together. Cooking isn't the exact science that baking is after all.

Instructions:First, clean the spinach and cut some of the ends off. Bring the veggie stock to a boil and then place the spinach in to wilt a bit. Remove from heat. In another pan, heat olive oil (maybe 1 tablespoon? I tend not to measure so much when cooking). Dice the onion and saute it in the oil. After the onions are nice and a bit softened, add the mushrooms and cook down. Once these have melded nicely add in the spinach, the tofurky sausage, a small amount of the veggie stock, and the soymilk. Allow to cook down. Once its all hot, stir in the pesto, basil leaves, and vegan cheeze and mix well. If the sauce isn't thick enough for your taste you can add a bit of flour or cornstarch. Once the cheeze has melted and everything is well mixed, open the packet of shirataki. Drain it well, then add it to the pot (did I mention you also don't need to actually cook the shirataki so much as just heat it up? amazing). Stir well to mix the noodles, which admittedly stick together a little, and cook for a few more minutes. Serve hot. So good!

Sunday, April 13, 2008

One of my friends invited the whole gang over on Saturday night, so I decided to throw together a quick coffee cake to enjoy with coffee/tea and conversation. I love how easy this recipe is and how totally decadent it comes out. It is easiest to use an 8" square or round pan, but you can also make this in a bundt pan or make coffee cake cupcakes. This recipe is super moist because of the soy sour cream and comes out so beautifully.

Instructions:Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the pan. Mix cake ingredients well and then spread in the pan or spoon into muffin tins. Mix the dry streusel ingredients, then cut in the margarine until crumbly. Spoon this mixture on top of the cake batter. Bake for about 35 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean, then allow to cool. I sometimes like to drizzle the cake with frosting (either store bought if I'm feeling lazy or confectioners sugar + margarine + a bit of soy milk + vanilla + lemon flavoring mixed in the kitchenaid until a drizzle-able consistency). This is amazing served warm or room temperature. I actually had the small piece that was leftover for breakfast this morning haha!

I was tagged by Veggie to tell you 5 things you might not know about me, so here goes:

1. I play 6 instruments: oboe, english horn, guitar, bass guitar, drums, and saxophone. I've recorded well over a hundred songs in the past 8 years and have released 11 eps and 3 lps/cds on indie labels.

2. I'm trying to learn to speak and read Polish.

3. I was just accepted to a PhD program in History and I cannot wait to move out of NY. The only thing that is going to make me sad about this is that I will no longer live near my darling gentleman, and I know that is going to rip my heart out. Hopefully we'll get to visit each other often.

4. I think about food basically all the time and I love to eat. Thank heavens I like to exercise too or my figure would not be so girlish.

5. I'm obsessed with mid-century modern furniture and have had dreams about finding that once-in-a-lifetime score at the flea market.

Monday, April 7, 2008

Oh man do I love this recipe. I usually double it so its nice and thick, but depending on the size pan you use this may not be necessary (with a regular pie pan, this recipe is plenty, but I sometimes use a deep cake pan to get a really thick slice going). For anyone who misses cheesecake, this is the closest thing I can possibly imagine to it that you can make vegan at home. so good!

Instructions:
Mix the tofutti, sugar, lemon, vanilla and salt until well blended. Crush the cookies or graham crackers, and mix with ½ stick of melted margarine. Press this cookie mixture into the bottom of a deep cake or sprinform pan (8" round) to make an even crust. Pour the tofutti mixture on top. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes, then chill in refrigerator until solid (When you take it out of the oven it will not be set, but do not fear and do not overcook. Once it has sat in the fridge for a while it will set very nicely and you will be enjoying some creamy guilt- and cruelty-free cheesecakey goodness). I highly recommend adding some nice fresh fruit. A raspberry sauce sounds good right now (1/4 cup boiling water or so + 1/4 sugar or so + container of raspberries on high heat until they become syrupy=deliciousness!), but any fresh fruit would be nice. or chocolate. or brownies! i do like the vegan brownie cheesecake at red bamboo (well, technically from vegantreats.com i think). I'm rambling now. and getting hungry. oh dear...I'll probably dream about this dessert now.

Monday, March 31, 2008

They had huge packages of strawberries at Stop and Shop this week and it got me excited for the warmer weather. I love a nice crisp salad in the spring, and the strawberries in this are totally unexpected.

Instructions:Toss almonds with sugar in a medium nonstick skillet on medium heatfor 6-8 minutes (until sugar becomes syrupy and evenly coats the almonds).Remove from heat and spread into a single layer on greased baking sheet or sheet of wax paper. When cooled, break into small pieces. Toss spinach, lettuce, and strawberries in large bowl. Drizzle with dressing, toss lightly, then sprinkle almonds on top.

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Okay, I am so in love with my slow cooker. Its sort of magical in a way...I fill it with an assortment of ingredients and a liquid in the morning and then go about my day. When dinnertime comes I open the lid and BAM. Piping hot meal, ready for me to eat. I don't even have to stir the thing! So today I decided to make some lentil stew with foods I had lying around the house.

Instructions:Add ingredients to slow cooker. I put the lentils on the bottom, followed by the onion, garlic, carrots, celery and tomatoes. Pour vegetable stock over this until its covered. Turn slow cooker on low, leave for 6-8 hours or until lentils are soft and stew-like, and you're done.

Instructions:Combine the corn syrup, butter, vanilla and salt in a large bowl, and beat well with an electric mixer until smooth. Mix in the powdered sugar, a little bit at a time, until creamy, then remove about 1/3 of the sugar mixture and place in a small bowl. Mix food coloring into this smaller portion of mixture. Chill the two mixtures for at least 2 hours until firm, then remove from the fridge and roll the orange filling into small, marble size balls. Wrap a small amount of the white filling around the orange balls and form into the shape of eggs. Place the formed filling on a lightly greased cookie sheet an chill for 4 hours. Combine the chocolate chips and shortening, melt and mix well. Dip each filling ball into the melted chocolate mixture and return to baking sheet. Chill again for 2 hours.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Yum! I do love a good scone now and again, and today seems like a nice day for baking. And scones are so easy to make! I like mine with chocolate chips, but they're just as good plain, with berries or with nuts, so you can throw in whatever suits your fancy (or whatever you happen to have on hand).

Stir together the dry ingredients. Cut the shortening in finely, then stir in the soy milk and egg replacer. When well mixed, add in the chocolate chips and mix. Roll dough out about 1/4" thick and cut into triangle shapes. Place them on a baking sheet, leaving some room between each scone, and brush the top of each with a little soy milk, then sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 450 degrees F for about 10 to 12 minutes, until golden. So delightful!

Sunday, February 3, 2008

I've been vegan for nearly twelve years now, and I never feel like I'm missing out on anything because I can veganize basically any recipe. My grandmother on the Slovakian and Polish side of the family used to make fantastic stuffed cabbage for holidays. I have been in the mood for stuffed cabbage all day today, so I'm posting my altered version of her basic recipe to remind myself to buy cabbage next time I'm at the market so that I can make this!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the Smart Ground, onion, cooked rice, parsley, salt, pepper, garlic, and 1/2 can of tomato sauce. Core the cabbage and and boil in a pot of water until partly cooked (don't overcook!), then separate the leaves and trim off the stems. Set aside between 24 and 32 whole leaves. Use the remaining leaves to line the bottom of a large baking pan, roasting pan, or casserole dish. Stuff a small handful of the Smart ground mixture in the center of a cabbage leaf. Fold top part of leaf over mixture, then fold in the sides and roll until mixture is completely encased. Lay rolls on top of the extra cabbage leaves in pan. If you are so inclined, spoon some sauerkraut over rolls, then sprinkle with sugar. Mix chopped tomatoes and sauce with water and pour over rolls. Add additional water as necessary to reach top of cabbage rolls. Bake for about an hour or so until cooked through and hot.

Friday, February 1, 2008

Last night I went out to Red Bamboo in Brooklyn with one of my pals from work. I ordered the sesame "chicken," but after splitting the buffalo wings (and in anticipation of the peanut butter bombe) I only ate about half of my entree. With so much fake chicken and nice brown rice, I figured I could take my leftovers home and make a basil fried rice with the frozen veggies I had in my freezer already (since the leftover "chicken" is just marinated seitan this could easily be made from scratch as well). While I follow recipes closely when I bake, I tend to make up the meals I cook on the fly, so the measurements are loose and can be expanded as necessary. This made enough to feed two people.

Instructions:First, I boiled a small amount of water and added my veggie bullion cube to make a veggie stock. Since my broccoli and peas were frozen I added a small amount of the stock to a microwave safe container and nuked the veggies until they were no longer frozen. I cooked my carrots in the remaining stock until tender. While the veggies were defrosting and cooking, I coarsely chopped the onion and sauteed it in a mix of the vegetable oil and the sesame oil. When the onions were tender I threw in several handfuls of chopped basil (mine was actually frozen from my summer garden; I always grow far, far more than I can use). I let the onions and basil sautee a bit then added the rice and stirred vigorously so it didn't stick to my pan too much. I then added the seitan and veggies, plus about 1/3-1/2 cup of the vegetable stock that I cooked the carrots in and a few dashes of soy sauce. I stirred until the liquied cooked off and was rewarded with a very delightful dinner and enough leftover for lunch tomorrow (leftovers from leftovers! three meals for the cost of one!).

My wonderful and accommodating mother whipped up some of these for me for my birthday a few years ago, and they were so amazing that I tucked the recipe away for a later date. I think I might make a few batches of these in a couple weeks to give out to my vegan pals for valentine's day. The chocolate and peanut butter combination is basically my favorite thing ever and I used to love reese's pb cups...plus the recipe is pretty easy.

Instructions:Melt chocolate chips or candy bar and vegetable shortening over hot, though not boiling water (this is the double-boiler method, see here for more detailed instructions. You can also just melt the chocolate/shortening in the microwave, but you may need to microwave it a few times during the course of assembling the cups if you go this route). Stir until everything is melted, smooth, and well-combined.

Coat the inside of the candy or muffin liners with chocolate (for the candy liners use one teaspoon of chocolate mixture to do this, for the muffin liners, just be judicious--is should coat the bottom and edges but not just be glopped in there--leave room for the peanut butter). A rubber spatula will help you gently push the chocolate up the sides of the liners. Chill the filled liners in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes until they're hardened. If you're using muffin liners, it might be a good idea to put them in a muffin tin so they don't lose their shape.

Combine the peanut butter, confectioners' sugar, and margarine in a bowl and stir well until blended. Using slightly rounded measured tablespoonfuls or a melon baller, shape the peanut butter filling into balls. Place one pb ball in each chocolate cup and press lightly with your fingers to flatten, then spoon the melted chocolate mixture on top (about one tablespoonful for the candy liners) and smooth over. Place these in the refrigerator again to harden (about 45 minutes).

It's best to keep these refrigerated until you're ready to eat or gift them. Hopefully I won't eat them all before I can package them up nicely for valentine's day.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

I made delightful donuts this morning using the cruller/raised donut recipe I posted a while back, but instead of glazing them or shaking them with powdered sugar/cinnamon and sugar, I decided to be really decadent and go the frosting/sprinkles route. This was a grand choice. I can never get over how good these are! Plus I only used half of the dough for donuts and used the other half just as a sweet dough and made a loaf of bread. Two baked goods for the effort of one!

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

An awesome gal I met gave me this recipe a couple years ago. I love casseroles because you basically just dump a bunch of ingredients in the casserole pan and then an hour or so later the oven has magically made it into dinner.

Saturday, January 5, 2008

Alright, so I meant to be good about posting through the holidays, but the month of December was a wash. No matter, these French Breakfast Puffs should make up for it. I wish I could have a warm plate of these every morning before leaving for work...they're a sweet way to start the day! These are even easier than a traditional recipe thanks to the Bisquick.